For these past few months, I’ve become completely addicted to podcasts. My otherwise grossly underachieving attention span ("Look, a bird!") receives a metaphorical boost of Ritalin when I listen to Crazy/Genius, a16z, WSJ Tech News Briefing, Steven’s weekly podcast, Nerdland (Dutch), Onbehaarde Apen (Dutch) and many other fantastic content providers. Possibly because I can combine listening to these awesome episodes with cooking, travelling or juggling (kidding, I don’t juggle) but mostly because of the little sparks that go off in my brain when I hear about all the incredible developments in tech, science and management around us. It reminds me that the world is indeed a wonderful and mysterious place (even after this weekend’s elections in Belgium, but that’s a different story), where the things that (we know that) we don’t know are just as valuable as what we do know.

nexxworks Innovation talks FTW!

So, it goes without saying that I’m incredibly excited to launch our very own ‘nexxworks Innovation Talks’ podcast with a first conversation between nexxworks Partner Peter Hinssen and Future of Work strategist Heather E. McGowan. They talk about reskilling, leading in an uncertain and complex environment and redesigning education. Yes, that is a mouthful, but these are some of the biggest cliff-hangers in business today, well worth our attention.

One of the founding principles of nexxworks is Peter Hinssen’s “the network always wins”, and this new podcast media channel is a perfect match for our strong belief of connecting to the outside world for information, inspiration and growth. We’ve always stuck to this open philosophy in our blog, with accomplished guest bloggers like Jon Bird, April Rinne, Greg Satell and many others, interviews with thought leaders from other companies and even inviting the competition to post on our platform (the offer still stands). This podcast - with interviews with all types of innovators, from startup founders to corporate change agents, academics, scientists and other experts - will bring this network-thinking to a next level.

So, sit back, grab a coffee or go work out at the gym (probably best without hot beverages) with the inspiring conversation between Peter Hinssen and Heather E. McGowan flowing through yours ears and firing up your synapses. Go on, you know you want to…:

For now, we’ll be posting at a rate of 1 interview - on any innovation-related topic - per month. If you’re as excited as I am about our “nexxworks Innovation Talks” (Probably not, as I have so much caffeine flowing through my veins today that even I am normally not this excited ), you’ll like to know that I will be interviewing Professor of Organizational Behavior Frederik Anseel in the coming weeks, an episode that we’ll post on June 25.

If you have any suggestions, questions, grievances or just want to grab a coffee at the Meetdistrict (Ghelamco) in Ghent, contact me at blog@nexxworks.com. My door is always open. Mostly because I don’t have my own door … or office (MeetDistrict does open plan) but also because the network always wins.

Still here, and not yet listening to our podcast? I'll just leave the link here below, just in case. No pressure, of course. Nope. Wouldn't dare.

Laurence Van Elegem

Laurence Van Elegem

Laurence has more than 10 years of experience in marketing, communications and disruptive innovation. Passionately curious, she is fascinated by the impact of technology and science on the way we work, consume and live our lives.